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ASIA PACIFIC TRAVEL'S NORTH KOREA TOURS UPDATE JUNE 1STThe North Korean authorities have announced that the Arirang mass performances, with over 100,000+ performers, will be held this year from August 2nd through October 15th. ASIA PACIFIC TRAVEL (APTL) received confirmation in January and February from the Korea International Travel Company (KITC) in Pyongyang that Americans will now be treated the same as other nationalities (except for South Koreans) in being allowed to: 1) visit the DPRK year round; 2) stay for longer periods than the old 5 day limit; and 3) pay the same price as Europeans and Japanese (but still more than Chinese and some other nationalities). Unfortunately Americans are still not allowed to take the train between the DPRK and China. To view our 2010 North Korea travel offerings, which include small group tours from April through October please click on the "Itineraries" button on the left panel. You will be able to review all our North Korea tours for 2010, noting the various pre- and post- tour options to Seoul, Beijing, Shenyang and Dandong. APTL can arrange travel to the DPRK for any nationality except South Koreans (who must go through a different host organizations in the DPRK), either as part of a group or in a custom tour. If you are not able to visit the DPRK on a regular tour, you (any nationality) may be able to visit two special border areas of North Korea, normally year-round, on group tours via Seoul. As of December 1, 2008, however, both destinations were still suspended due to disagreements between the North and the South. These two areas are Kaesong, an old capital of Korea just across the DMZ from Seoul, and Kumgang, a scenic mountain area in southeast North Korea, again just across the DMZ. Kaesong day-tours operate every day except Mondays and cost about $225-250 per person (depending on the exchange rate). Tours to Kumgang operate daily, year-round and cost between $250 and $600 per person depending on the season, level of accommodation, exchange rate, etc. Normally one needs 3 days-2 nights, or even 4 days-3 nights as it takes a minimum of 6 hours each way from Seoul just to get there. Asia Pacific Travel is authorized by Hyundai Asan, the exclusive South Korean organizer of both these tours, to book clients for them. Please contact the Asia Pacific Travel office if you are interested in either of these special tours to North Korea as you do need to have a reservation in advance in order to be on the group visa list for a each tour. Also note that Hyundai Asan had been working with officials in North Korea to arrange overnight charter flight tours from Seoul to Mt. Paektu on the Chinese border but details have not been worked out yet to allow this to happen. * * * * * * * * * * * * * Welcome to Asia Pacific Travel's North Korea 1 on 1, your resource for thoughtful insights into the who, what, where, when and why of purposeful and memorable individual and small group travel and tours to North Korea (or as it is correctly called, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, the DPRK). Although this site, as a practical matter, is primarily for English-speakers, citizens of any country will find it useful as well and are welcome on our tours (except for South Koreans who must go through a different host organizations in the DPRK). The staff here at Asia Pacific Travel, Ltd. have designed this website to provide you relevant information on travel to the DPRK and has included "recommended" activities based on over fifteen years of practical experience in North Korea travel. (Click on this hyperlink to learn more about our “background” with the DPRK.) If this is your first visit to an Asia Pacific Travel web site, please take a minute to read through the helpful information below before you begin to explore other pages of our North Korea web site. We know the photographs are nice (that's why we put them on the web site), but please take some time to read the text as well. Travel to North Korea is serious business and requires an investment of time on your part to be sure things work smoothly, and that you get the most out of your trip. Thanks for visiting. North Korea by the Numbers CAPITAL: Pyongyang (means "flat land," "plain," or "cozy place") AREA: North Korea: 46,541 sq. mi. / 120,540 sq. km. Rank: 99th in World / 22nd in Asia South Korea: 38,023 sq. mi. / 98,480 sq. km. Rank: 109th in World / 23rd in Asia U.S.: 3,717,813 sq. mi. / 9,629,091 sq. km. Rank: 3rd in World ARABLE LAND: North Korea: 21% Rank: 54th in World / 8th in Asia South Korea: 17% Rank: 68th in World / 10th in Asia U.S.: 19% Rank: 61st in World HIGHEST POINT: North Korea: 9,003 ft. / 2,744 m. Rank: 85th in World / 23rd in Asia South Korea: 6,398 ft. / 1,950 m. Rank: 123rd in World / 26th in Asia U.S.: 20,322 ft. / 6,194 m. Rank: 15th in World POPULATION: North Korea: 22,917,177 Rank: 47th in World / 16th in Asia South Korea: 48,142,000 Rank: 24th in World / 10th in Asia U.S.: 295,734,134 Rank: 3rd in World LABOR FORCE: North Korea: 9,600,000 Rank: 45th in World / 19th in Asia South Korea: 22,920,000 Rank: 20th in World / 11th in Asia U.S.: 147,400,000 Rank: 3rd in World LITERACY RATE: North Korea: 99% Rank: 24th in World / 4th in Asia South Korea: 98% Rank: 53rd in World / 7th in Asia U.S.: 97% Rank: 62nd in World Please note that if you would like to see all the photos related to this specific page, please click on the Photo Gallery button in the left panel. The Photo Gallery button will display in a new page all the photos shown in the Flash strip along the top of the page, whether it is a country, city or attraction page. You can click on any of the thumbnail photos to see a much larger version. |
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